The present invention relates to novel chemical processes and compositions. In particular, the present invention relates to novel polymerization processes utilizing certain alkyl ammonium nitrates as polymerization media and to novel polymer compositions utilizing the alkyl ammonium nitrates as solvents or swelling agents.
Various solvents are employed in polymer technology either as solvents or swelling agents for polymers or as solvents used in conducting polymerization reactions, i.e., as polymerization media. Water is often used for such applications and numerous other solvent systems, which can be aqueous, anhydrous, protic, or aprotic, can also be used.
Although a large number of solvents are known, they may not be altogether satisfactory for certain polymer technology applications. For example, a given monomer or polymer may be insoluble or difficultly soluble in the known solvents or it may be unstable or provide unstable solutions in those solvents in which it can be dissolved. With specific regard to polymerization processes, a given monomer polymerized in conventional polymerization solvents may provide only low molecular weight polymers or a low degree of polymerization. With regard to polymer solutions, a given polymer may display undesired properties in known solvents for that polymer such as aggregation or undesired polyelectrolyte behavior. Thus, there remains a continuing need in the art for new solvent systems which can be employed in polymer technology.